


Something a Little More Dragonish

by DarkJediQueen



Category: James Bond (Craig movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Fandom Trumps Hate, First Time, M/M, Medical Experimentation, Soulmates, magic is known
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-25
Updated: 2019-10-25
Packaged: 2021-01-03 02:13:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21171743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkJediQueen/pseuds/DarkJediQueen
Summary: The world at large knows of magic and has since it was revealed a thousand years before. But inside of MI6 secrets still abound. It's said that to become a Double-Oh one has to kill twice. Only that's not the only thing. One has to have something a little more. A little special. One has to be a dragon. When M puts a new Q in place after the bombing of Vauxhall Cross, no one is more shocked than the Double-Oh's when this new Quartermaster is a Fae.





	Something a Little More Dragonish

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SandyWormbook](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SandyWormbook/gifts).

> **Year**: Skyfall {2012} and forward  
**Spoilers**: Up Through Skyfall  
**Notes**: None  
**Beta**: ScarsLikeVelvet

James Bond entered the temporary MI6 headquarters like he owned it. All eyes were on him as he moved through the halls. There was a vibe to the place that James didn't like. It was never good when MI6 felt like it did. That meant something was up and something up that permeated every single area of MI6 never made for a good day.

"Well, there you are, finally," M said. She looked him up and down. James knew that his face was still haggard, but he didn't care, his suit was pressed, and nothing was out of place. While MI6 might have put his things from his flat into storage, there were three safe houses that he maintained that they hadn't touched. "Where did you steal the suit from?"

"I had it at Alec's."

"006 burned down his third flat three weeks ago. If it was there, it was destroyed. Try again."

James just smirked at her. She wasn't ever going to find out all of his secrets.

"Whatever was salvaged from Trevelyan's flat is in the Double O tunnels, which is where 006 will be living for the time being. You are more than welcome to join him."

"Oh, I'll find someplace to live. Don't worry about me."

"I don't. I only give a damn when you are messing up my life. Tanner will explain everything."

"And where will I find Q?"

"Major Boothroyd was killed in the explosion. The new Q is working, leave him alone. You'll meet him when you need to."

James glared at M, but he didn't say anything at all.

"Bond, with me," Tanner said.

James turned to look at Tanner. He looked harried but no more than the other members of MI6. He could smell the magic gone wrong inside of the tunnels. Worry created bad magic, and bad magic meant that things went wrong. James couldn't be happier to be going out on a mission.

"Where are we going?"

"Q hasn't set up shop in the tunnels yet. He's not found a spot he likes."

"What kind of Quartermaster did she find for us this time? It's going to be hard to top a Druid."

"He's a-" Tanner stopped when a Pseudodragon flew across the opening that Tanner was getting to in the tunnels.

"When did MI6 get a Pseudodragon?" James asked. James was shocked. Pseudodragons were very rare outside of Dragons havens. James hadn't seen one since he'd left Skyfall. There had been a nest of them living on the land the last time he'd visited, without Kincade knowing. Even without James's family being there, the property was owned by a Dragon, and so to a Pseudodragon, it smelled of safety.

"That is the Quartermaster's bonded familiar."

"M said that she'd never instill a Dragon as Quartermaster in her lifetime. Something about the Double-Oh's being enough. "

"Q is not a Dragon." Tanner actually sounded like he was having fun.

"What is he then?"

The Pseudodragon flew back down the corridor and flew right at James. As he ducked to miss getting a face full of Pseudodragon, James took a deep breath. He smelled Fae. He felt the magic of Fae off of the Dragon as well.

"A FAE!" James screamed before he turned to Tanner, watching the Pseudodragon out of the corner of his eye as he took in the look on Tanner's face.

"I wondered if you were still that sensitive after three months away. Yes, Q is a Fae. Before we get that far though, you have tests to complete."

Five hours later, James was showering after his tests, he was alone, and the adrenaline from the activity was coursing through his blood. His cock was half-hard, and he stroked it a few times to get it fully hard. He felt magic swirling around him, and he saw the Pseudodragon looking down at him.

"Shoo," James said and flung water up at the little thing. It huffed, and James thought for a few seconds that it might try and roast him, M would hate it if he shifted inside the Double-Oh showers again. Instead, though, the Pseudodragon huffed at him again, and then it seemingly smirked. James glared, and the Pseudodragon glared back.

"Q is waiting for you at at the National Gallery, whenever you feel like you can pull yourself away from your self-love." The Pseudodragon took to the air and then was gone in a swirl of magic. James wanted to hunt the little fucker down and show him who the bigger Dragon was. Show him what a real Dragon was like after being bonded to a Fae for his life. James washed off and just to spite the Pseudodragon; he finished jerking himself off.

James shut off the water and moved towards the lockers where James had spare clothes. No one had touched his clothes thankfully. A small bit of magic and the suit smelled new and fresh, but as he reached for it, it went from stone grey to light pink, and by the time that he pulled it out of the linen bag in the locker, it was hot pink in colour. James could feel the magic all over it. The little fucking Pseudodragon had magicked it to react to any magic done to it. James tried to reverse it, but that turned the suit neon orange. James kept hitting the suit with magic until it was a light shade of purple that he could at least stand to wear. James dressed himself and looked in the mirror as he tied his tie. It was at least a grey tie that looked well paired with the suit. He'd have to live with his white shirt. He wasn't good at the clothes magic like some Dragons were. James preferred others to make his clothes for him. He was good at death and had been for a long time.

As James left the Double-Oh tunnels, he knew that several people were looking at him, but he ignored them. He'd never worn a suit like he was wearing, but he didn't care. He would make the little Dragon pay in some way. He would find a way to get him back. James hit the edge of the zone of the MI6 druids' protection, and he teleported to the edge of the National Gallery's protection zone. The man at the door stared at him, but James ignored him as he paid his fee to enter. James wandered through the halls until he found the one he was looking for.

_The Fighting Temeraire_ wasn't on the high list of things that James wanted to see in his lifetime.

A lithe man sat down beside him, and James looked at him, barely giving him a look before looking back at the painting.

"Always makes me feel a little melancholy. A grand old warship being ignominiously hauled away for scrap." The young man inhaled and then exhaled like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. "The inevitability of time, don't you think? What do you see?"

"A bloody big ship. Excuse me." James moved to stand up and stopped when he felt the swirl of familiar magic. The Pseudodragon landed there on the bench to James's left. He stared at James until the Dragon stared back at him.

"007." The lithe man said, turning James's attention back to him. "I'm your new Quartermaster."

"You must be joking." James sat down and looked back at the Pseudodragon. "This is your master?"

"Why, because I'm not wearing a lab coat?" Q said before the Pseudodragon could answer him.

"Because you still have spots." James knew that Fae tended to be young looking, but this one didn't look much past the age where he would be allowed around humans, much less stronger races.

"My complexion is hardly relevant."

"Well, your competence is," James spat at him. Boothroyd had been an old man by human standards before he even took over as Quartermaster of MI6. To have this young, upstart Fae taking his spot was insane.

"Age is no guarantee of efficiency." The Fae smirked at him, and James wanted to slap it off his face.

"And youth is no guarantee of innovation." James watched the Fae's face for anything, but the young thing's eyes kept going up to James's hair.

"I'll hazard I can do more damage on my laptop sitting in my pyjamas before my first cup of Earl Grey than you can do in a year in the field." The Fae exhaled over James's face, and James felt his scalp tingle.

"Oh, so why do you need me?"

"Every now and then a trigger has to be pulled."

"Or not pulled. It's hard to know which in your pyjamas." James looked at the Fae again. "Q."

"007. Be careful around Kaiden."

"K," the Pseudodragon called out behind James.

"His magic is all mischief, and he loves to play. While you were worried about getting your suit a shade, you could stand, you didn't see that your hair was changing colours based on your mood. Right now it's a lovely shade of red."

"It turned pink when he jerked off," K supplied. The Fae glared at it, but there was no heat to it. James though felt that he wanted to shove the little Pseudodragon off the edge of the bench. James ignored him and tried to get his emotions under control.

"I got rid of it. Can't have you in Shanghai, broadcasting all your deep emotions." The Fae handed over an envelope followed by a case. "Ticket to Shanghai. Documentation and passport."

"Thank you. And this." James opened the case and saw the gun.

"Walther PPK/S 9mm short. There's a micro-dermal sensor in the grip. It's been coded to your palm print so only you can fire it. Less of a random killing machine, more of a personal statement."

"And this?"

"Standard issue radio transmitter. Activate it, and it broadcasts your location. Distress signal. And that's it."

"A gun...and a radio. Not exactly Christmas, is it?" James said it to get a rise out of the new Quartermaster hopefully. The man was competent so far, but James felt like he was on a weird standing with the Pseudodragon getting a laugh at his expense. He'd known mischief-makers. K and Alec were going to get along well, and James was hoping that they never met.

"Were you expecting an exploding pen? We don't really go in for that anymore.007. Good luck out there in the field. And please return the equipment in one piece." The Fae gave him a weird look before he left.

"Brave new world," James said to his retreating back. K flew after Q, not looking back at all, even after he landed on Q's shoulder. 

* * *

It was strange to feel Fae magic everywhere inside of MI6. James had gotten used it about two weeks after coming back from the leave he had been put on post-Skyfall while the bureaucrats and doctors figured out how off the rocker James was. Still, every single morning when James walked into MI6, he felt that Fae magic and he wasn't sure if he liked it or not. James had not gone near Q-Branch since he had come back. 

Today, though he had no choice as he had been summoned by Q himself to the area where Q-Branch had set itself up in. James wasn't sure what kind of mood he was going to put himself in for it. Alec had been sent out on a mission not too long before, but he was enamoured with the new Quartermaster. 

Pushing open the door to Q-Branch, James stopped in his tracks one step inside. Kaiden was hanging upside down, staring James right in the face. 

"Good morning, Mister Bond," K said with what passed for a grin on his face. 

"Good morning, K," James said back a little confused as to why the Pseudodragon was hanging about. 

"Where is my tea?"

"Your tea?"

"All persons who enter Q-Branch much bring a sacrifice to the new God. I demand tea," K said.

James looked at the staff around the door, but none of them was looking up at him. They were all focused on their work so James couldn't see if K was pulling his leg or not by their reactions. 

"I'll take your tie instead," K said. 

James glared at the Pseudodragon for a few seconds but pulled off his tie and handed it over. K closed his upper limbs around it, and he dropped down before flipping upright and sailing over to where Q was standing at a computer bay with his back to the room. Q didn't even look at his pet as K landed on the perch that was on the desk for him. The room was nicely laid out, and there was a large area in the centre of the room that was open. For most looking at it, they would say that it was for moving around the room, but James' better-trained eye showed him that it was just big enough to have one of the Double-Ohs shift to Dragon form. It was quite interesting and telling that it was laid out that way. Q saw that one day he would need to have a Dragon in the middle of the room without having to move anything. 

"Excuse me," Ariana Gordon, better known as 008, said as she passed by James. She walked over to where Q was. 

James slipped to the side and found a spot he could stay at that would be out of the way of staff but also give him a good view of Q and 008. James didn't like strange people being around. He wanted to know who Q was before he fully trusted the man. Q had done well in trying to save M, but that hadn't worked, but it was no fault of Q's. James also knew that Q had not been at MI6 for long so he knew that Q wouldn't be as attached to M as James was, but after the funeral, there had been no emotion from Q. 

"Ah, 008. Just in time. Perfect. Please, assume your form," Q said as he turned around after hitting a few keys that turned the monitor he was working at to black. 

008 changed there in the centre of the room, hunching down so that she didn't hit the lights. Q walked around her, touching parts of her legs and then her wings. It was strange to see a Double-Oh in Dragon form yet not causing mayhem, it was near sacrilege. 

"Sir," a voice called out making James look to see who was talking and who they were talking to. It was a low-level Q-Branch staffer who was talking to Mallory who had just entered the room. 

"Hello," Mallory said to her with a smile before he turned to look at 008. "I see why M chose who she did, I would not take you on for money or my life." 

008 nodded her head but said nothing. All Dragons were capable of speech in any form, but some didn't like to talk about when they were in their true form unless they were around people they fully trusted. James wondered if it was Mallory or Q that gave her pause. 

"Are you ready?" Q asked. 

008 nodded her head. Q moved around to the side of her and climbed up. James marvelled at how he did it. He was perfect at mounting her and sitting, facing the wrong way, like a Dragon rider would. It was fascinating. Q pulled a small device from a pocket on his cardigan that he was wearing and placed it between the joints at the base of her wings. It beeped, and they made a noise that had 008 grunting in pain. One of the staffers handed Q a tablet, and he started to tap about on it. 

"Oh, this looks promising." Q tapped a few more things before he handed the tablet back and slid down off of 008. As soon as he was on his feet, she changed back.

"Let's go to the underground area and do a weapons test, shall we?" Q asked.

"Yes, let's." 

"Are you going to join us, 007?" Q asked, his head moving around to zero in on James. James had been pretty sure that Q hadn't noticed him there at all, but he was wrong. He would have to see how Q had done it.

"Weapons fire test? I would love to."

"Good. You get to be the one to attempt to shoot 008's wings."

James felt his stomach drop. That was the only way to take down a Dragon to get them down close enough to kill. He would never want to do that to another Double-Oh. It was horrible to even think about. 

"Don't look that way, James. It's going to be fun. You've been down into the arena yes?"

"No." James glared at 008. There was no arena under anywhere in London.

"It was constructed over the past year," Q said, and he waved toward a door that James had never noticed in the room. He walked toward it, going last with Mallory and Q going first. James felt the air getting colder, the deeper that they went and then they were in a room that was massive. It looked like the areas of old that James remembered. It had been a long time since he had fought in one of those. As a young child, he had tested his might as a human and as a Dragon in the arena. He wanted to see what else there was. 

"It doesn't look constructed," James said as he touched the walls of the arena that he was closest to. It was strange and wonderful. It reminded him of the arena he had been inside of in Scotland.

"It was rendered by a large group of Fae after the greatest Dragon fighting arena in Scotland," Q said. 

"Ah." It was the Mòinteach Raineach arena. James loved it. He walked around the edge of the arena with a smile on his face, his hand touching the wall as he listened with half an ear to what Q wanted 008 to do. The bullets were not real, magical bullets out of a magical gun that was made to act like a gun. 

008 walked to the middle of the arena and waited for the word from Q as James walked over to where Q was at the small alcove that was for watchers. There were several around the room, but this one had the most magic around it. It was Fae magic, and it made James' skin crawl. 

K landed on James' shoulder and dropped a gun down into his hand. "Try not to lose it."

"Snarky little Dragon," James said. He watched as K puffed up like he was proud of it, James rolled his shoulder and K flew away from him. James watched as 008 got used to the arena. He also used that time to track her and figure out what she was doing. 

"Start," Q said after ten more minutes. 

James raised up the gun and tracked 008's flight path just as he was getting ready to shoot, something came out of the device that Q had put on her back and covered her wings. It looked almost like a membrane. James fired at it, and he watched with his keen eyesight as the bullet lodged itself in the membrane but didn't penetrate. James emptied every single bullet into the membrane over 008's wings, but none went through. 

"007, here you go. Live bullets this time," Q said as he held out a gun to James with the handle facing James. 

James took it and repeated what he had done before. None of them penetrated. It was weapon after weapon into 008's wings, larger calibre bullets as well as a shotgun at the end with its birdshot. All but the first were live ammo that was not magically enhanced." 

"Thank you, Bond," Mallory said. 

James settled into a mock parade rest and waited to see what his next orders were. He had enjoyed that, more than a lot of other things that he had done before now. James watched as Q and Mallory walked out into the area to see check on 008, the device retracted the membrane over the wings, and the sounds of all of the bullets hitting the ground at once was kind of hilarious. 

"How did you develop this?" Mallory asked.

"This was part of what M hired me to do, Sir. I have not figured out a way to make armour for the underside of Dragon's bellies that won't hinder leg movement, but wings seemed to be no issue at all."

"Do you sleep?" Mallory asked. 

"No, Sir. I was gifted with the ability that I don't need sleep."

James felt his hackles rising at the tone that Q used about his ability. It was the way that James had heard others talk about curses. James vowed to look into that. If Q was a vulnerability, James would make sure that no one would harm him. While James wasn't sure he trusted him yet, he had made something that allowed the Double-Ohs to protect the weakest part of themselves, their wings. There were a lot of missions that James would rather have used that side of himself from long-range weapons were not good for the delicate skin that stretched between wing joints. Jame would have to tap in a few other Double-Ohs, but the first thing he was going to do was figure out who the hell Q was.

* * *

The first time that James was able to figure anything out about Q, it was the middle of the night, and he was returning home from a mission in Zimbabwe. He had been able to keep a hold of his gun and radio, and those were the only things. The hard drive had been lost, but Q had sent him with a device that transmitted all of the info to secure servers. It had proven to be a good thing as James had ended up tossing it all into a vat with acid in it, just to make sure the information didn't get back into the hands of the people who had taken it, to begin with. 

Q was in his office, and there were no other Q-Branchers in the main area. There was evidence that one or more of them were there but not in the room at the moment, so James used it to sneak up on Q's office without him hearing, hopefully. James hadn't learned anything at all on Q. There was nothing on his file in the system. Allergies were listed and his medical records from being a Fae in the British Secret Services but nothing that helped James with who he was. It was strange as hell. No other record was like that except for all of the ones who held the position of M. Even old Boothroyd's file had been in the system. James had figured that out first hand. It was like Q was a ghost.

"No, I will not. I don't give a shite if your precious Mummy wants me to dinner. Every single one of you had years to come and see me, and none of you have. Hell, you wouldn't even know I was here if you had skipped that meeting like you always do."

James had heard through the grapevine of gossip that Mallory and Q had been at meetings on Home Office for a long while over the past two days. 

"No, she is not my mother. She gave birth to me, but she did not raise me. She did not fight for me. She allowed Siger to push me away like I never existed. Siger had you, the perfect heir to the family name. He didn't need me. If you ever call me again and it's not about anything work-related, I will file harassment charges." There was the slam of the phone on to the desk, one of the older type phones that gave a good solid thunk to the piece when it was dropped in the cradle. "Fuck."

James retreated and then walked back to the doors, letting them swing wide and then close with a thunk. James started across the floor like he owned the place just as Q stuck his head around to look and see who had entered his Branch. 

"Ah, 007," Q said as he stood up from his seat and walked to meet James at the door. "Was the trip home fine?"

"Yes. Thank you for buying the seats on either side of me." 

"You are not injured enough for medical intervention before flying home, but I knew that a child or adult in the seat next to you with a case of the fidgets would make the trip home unbearable. That makes for a very pissed off 007. It's one little thing I don't mind doing for my agents."

"Your agents? We are Mallory's agents." James liked the possessiveness in Q's tone, and he had no idea why. Fae were never a race that tripped James' libido. He had bedded a few for Queen and Country, and he was trained to know the pleasure and weak points of every single race out there. 

"Mallory may think that, but it's not true at all. M called me, you know, from the cell phone that I had given to her when I agreed to enter this job. She told me to take care of her Dragons, and I plan to do that. I plan to take care of you all in every single way that I can. If that means a flight that you would set you at ease before you came home, then I will do that. If it's calming music on an MP3 player while heading to a mission or audiobooks, I will get it." 

"Because you don't sleep?" James asked. 

"Because I care. Because you are all that holds London free from the barbarians at the door that would love to see her fall. It's why I took this job. If I can add another year of life to every single Double-Oh that runs through this program, I'll consider my job done. Even if I can just let one of you to actually retire out of this job, I'll pat myself on the back." Q looked around his office and sat down in his chair before holding out his hand. K flew to land on his forearm before jumping to his shoulder. 

"He's sneaky, but I could smell his cologne," K said. He nuzzled in at Q's cheek before taking flight to the perch on the other side of the room. There was a bowl with cut up bananas on the perch. K grabbed a slice and chomped down on it. James wondered if there was a fruit that the Pseudodragon didn't eat. 

"So, Bond, we are at an impasse. You have two choices. Tell no one, and I'll let you live. Tell someone, and I'll make sure that you die. It'll be horrific, and it will be messy, and you will beg for death before the end, but it will happen. So Bond, what is your choice?"

"Silence is something that I rarely follow, but I think in this case, it might be the best thing for my life. So, Q, can I take you to dinner?" James asked. He was pretty sure that Q was going to think that being verbally eviscerated got him revving, but he wanted to talk to Q more, to figure out what kind of family he had come from and then figure out who Siger was. It was going to be interesting. 

Q looked at James for several minutes. The Fae didn't blink as he stared at James. James was starting to get creeped out by the way that he was being stared at. James had never known a Fae to do that, to be that still. It was a trait of a Dragon who could stay still long enough for land and plants to grow over the top. There were hills in the world that had at the base of them Dragons who were so old, so ancient that they had no care to live anymore but could not take their own life. 

"Why would I want to go to dinner with you?"

"Curiosity. Isn't that what Fae are known for?" James asked. 

Q made a humming noise that was probably supposed to be an agreement, but there was a rumble to it. Something familiar that James had heard before, he just couldn't place it.

"Curiosity about what? How good of a meal partner you are?" Q asked. Q took a step forward, putting himself in range of being grabbed by James. "Or why you would put the invitation out after I just threatened to kill you?"

"Or you just want to see the infamous James Bond seduction. There are those who try and get me on dates here."

"Yes, but James, you forgot one thing." Q tipped up James' head to where he was looking Q in the eye instead of watching the way that his body moved when he walked. "You don't fuck inside of MI6, so the best it would be is a great cock tease, and I'm not up for a cock tease."

"Maybe I have a thing for Fae," James said. He had no idea why he was pushing so hard on this. 

Q snorted.

"You barely look at Fae, and you only fuck them when you have to."

"You are different," James said.

"You want to control me." 

James heard the tone there. Q didn't like to be controlled. There was that rumble back into his voice, and all that did was start to make Jame aroused. Q's eyes widened, and James wondered just what Q was besides Fae because there was no way that he was just Fae with how quick he had picked up the change in James' scent. Half breeds were not that uncommon, but most picked the race they looked like and went with that, outside of partners. James didn't figure that Q would tell him what other race he was. It would make it easier to track down whoever his parents were, though. A man named Siger who had taken up with someone from another race. 

"I want yo fuck you," James said. He figured there was no point in lying.

"And that's all?"

"Well, I'm not so much of a cad that I don't at least take my dates out to a nice meal first."

"I see." Q frowned, and other than that, he was impossible to read. "Tomorrow night, I will leave the office at six. You had better wine and dine me, 007, or you are not getting anywhere close to my arse."

"It will be a lovely evening, Q. Unless you would like to call me to call you by a different name?"

"Smooth, 007, smooth. You'll have to earn that. The woman I called my mother was the first to call me Q when I was a child. She said I was bursting with questions that she could never answer. I was her Little Q for a long time and then just Q. It's my preferred name. I'm sure that when you talk to other people, they will comment on exactly how quickly I took to the name."

"You trust me enough to tell me this?" 

"Well, it's up to you to if you trust me or not."

"You'd lie to me?" James asked. A near-purr escaped James' throat at his happiness that Q would even attempt to do that. It was like a game that James got to play. He was all for learning what Q was like when he lying and trying to cover it up and lying just to lead James on. 

"Oh, I would. I've learned lately that it's a family sport."

"Tomorrow at six, Quartermaster." James looked Q up and down and frowned a little. "Maybe wear something a little better tomorrow?"

"Oh, I'll wear something that you'll love, but I won't put it on until it's time to leave. After four o'clock, you are banished from Q-Branch, and if I see you at all, I will cancel the date."

"Yes, Sir, Quartermaster, Sir." James gave a mock salute, and he turned on his heel to leave. He would do as Q wanted, but he was going to keep on digging. He had a date with a laptop this evening, and he would watch Q as he worked. James did have to wonder if Q knew that the laptop that James had possession of had access to Q-Branch cameras. He had been able to slip out of Q-Branch with it, and he was wondering why no one had shut it down yet. He was looking forward to that day. 

The drive home was quick, and then James was in front of the laptop with a camera up that showed Q-Branch and a good look at Q's office. K wasn't visible at all, and James wondered where the Pseudodragon was. It was rare that K was far away from Q at all. The fact that the Pseudodragon was with Q with him being a half-breed at all was strange. Pseudodragons were notoriously picky on who they bonded with, and Kaiden was loyal to Q.

"What are you going to do about the house?" K asked as he appeared on the screen. 

"I haven't decided. I need to clean it out. Mother loved that house and the sanctuary that it gave her, and it used to give me, but now there is nothing for me there."

"What should I do the next time he's at the meeting?" K asked. 

"Bite him. I can even give you a poison that will make him sick for a few days." Q reached out, and a cup of something came toward him by magic. That kind of magic was only normal in Dragons and some human magical users. James was intrigued. 

"I'll gladly do it. I'll bite him every single time that I see him. I'm allowed. He represents a significant danger to you, and I'm allowed to defend you."

"I'd love for him to hit you. He would go to jail and lose his job then. Siger would hate that, but I don't rightly care."

James turned it off, the sound at least. He didn't need to hear this. He usually wouldn't care so much, but there was too much grief and anger in Q's voice, and this was too personal. James clicked to where the camera view popped to the top corner and would stay on top of everything that he was doing. 

The first search term that he entered into the database of all British citizens was Siger as a first name or a middle name. While the name had dropped off for some families, it was still strong. The most notable Siger was Siger Holmes, who was married to a lady Dragon named Violet Holmes née Sherrinford. They had four children, with the youngest being a female. The eldest was Sherrinford, who was the one that was set to take over for Siger, it seemed. The two middle children were Mycroft and Sherlock. Sherlock was a self-made detective, and Mycroft worked for the government. Still, nothing was in the articles about him about what he did. James looked at the image of Sherlock that popped up. There was a similarity to Sherlock but not so much Mycroft. James hunted down pictures of the other two and found that the female, Philippa, looked more like Sherlock than the other two males and, therefore, like Q. Sherrinford looked like Mycroft. Siger and Violet were both a strange mix of all of the children. 

An article about a Holmes who had taken their life in the late seventies had James clicking on it. It seemed that Siger had five siblings for a total of six children. The second born was Ottilie, who had his image on the screen there, and James could see Q in his face, but the strange thing was that Ottilie looked like a Fae. James searched more into the family. He found that Tiberius Holmes had married a woman named Shae. However, they were both Dragons, and yet other than Siger, the other children were all wholly another race. 

Then there was an article about Tiberius being charged with undisclosed crimes and given lethal injection not long after being charged. It seemed like Siger had been the champion of that and had taken the family from Tiberius not long after he turned eighteen. Still, it had taken a long time to get the man convicted. James decided then that the entire Holmes family was fucked up. He brought up the MI6 files on influential people. He searched Tiberius Holmes and found that according to MI6, he had seven children, Siger was the firstborn. Still, the second was a female, but the file was locked. He frowned on that and looked at the rest of the family and found nothing else hidden outside of Siger.

Siger had a fifth child that was marked as stillborn. There was no file on that child. There was a single image though of a child that was lying on a bed, and the child looked dead. James nearly closed it until he noticed that it was a Fae. James looked closer, and he saw a birthmark on the upper right shoulder that looked like a Dragon claw. James dug into MI6 more about Tiberius. He found that he had been charged with the medical experimentation on Violet while she was pregnant with the last child. James was wondering why he had not been charged with the death of that child. 

James shut down all but the camera and opened it up to where it was full screen. He was attached to Q in a way that was not healthy, but he wasn't that worried about it. James watched Q working. He was coding, it was the only reason why he would be typing like he was on the computer as fast as he was without stopping. He laughed when he saw a small group of Faeries flying to him with a cup of something being held by all of them. 

The cup was settled beside Q, and the old one was taken away. K was asleep on the bedding area that was on a rack that was attached to Q's desk. Q reached out to pet him with one hand as he picked up the cup with the other and took a drink. The Faeries left in a puff of magic that scattered Faerie dust everywhere. Q's hand moved out after he set down the mug, and the dust collected itself into a small marble, and Q pocketed it. James knew that Q had a collection of marbles in a jar on a shelf, but he had no idea that it was a collection of Faerie dust. 

James laughed as he watched K sneeze. He knew that the Pseudodragon was allergic to Faerie dust and wasn't shocked that Q had a good way to collect that. Snagging the glass of scotch on the table and downed it. He watched Q as he worked the rest of the night before shutting things down to snag a few hours of sleep before he started to figure out where he was going to take Q and precisely what he was going to do with him afterward. 

Shutting down the computer felt wrong, but James did it because stalking Q that much was a line he wasn't going to cross. 

* * *

Q was in a tuxedo when James entered Q-Branch right at six. The hand on his watch moved from 1759 to 1800 right as he was walking through the door. Q was dressed just lovely even if his shirt and cummerbund were not the standard colours for a tuxedo. It was interesting to see him dressed like that. James had figured that Q didn't have a standard suit in his closet at all. This was made for him though, showing off every line of his body. 

James' mouth watered at the sight of him. He hadn't felt like this for someone in a very long time, and the last time it had been a drug, but James had already tested himself for that in Medical branch. 

"Right on time, 007. R, take over and make sure that 006 doesn't kill anyone that doesn't deserve it while he's on his rampage in Rome."

"I won't, Q. Have fun!" R was smirking as she talked. 

It wasn't going to be long before the word spread that they had gone on a date. The whole of MI6 would be shocked, but James really didn't care. 

"Hungry?" James asked as he opened the door to Q-Branch for Q to step through.

"Ravenous. I've mostly drunk all day as I was too busy. I kind of remember a few cucumber sandwiches appear at my side, but those are not that filling."

"So you are hopped up on tea and cucumbers? How British of you," James said. 

Q laughed. He linked his arm with James' as they walked toward the elevator that would lead them to the parking garage area of the tunnels. Both of them had preferential parking there. James because he wasn't good to park in a typical spot close to where they worked and Q for security reasons. 

"What weapons do you have on you?" James asked as they exited the elevator. The silence had not been bad at all, James knew that Q was not a talker. It was the gossip of MI6 as he didn't talk to at much too many people at all and ignored them if he thought that they weren't worth the space they were taking up. 

"Nothing that metal detectors would find."

"And magical ones," James pointed out.

"Oh, well I guess we will find out as I never know what they will catch and what they won’t." 

James laughed and clicked the button on his car key to unlock it as they got closer. Q reached out and opened up his own door before slipping down into the car. Jame shut the door as soon as Q was inside of it. James rushed around to get into the driver's seat and got inside. 

"Where is K?" James asked as he started his Aston Martin. He jumped when he felt breathing on his neck and then there was a tail wrapping around the front of his neck. 

"Right here," K said before he wiggled to where he was on James' shoulder with his tail still wrapped around the front of James' neck. 

"And where were you?"

"Asleep in the backseat," Q said. 

"What?"

"He broke into it after lunch today. He didn't want to be left behind. He's afraid that I'd leave him behind."

"Why?" 

"Because he's an asshole," K said. 

James tuned out the bickering of the two as he got out of the parking garage and into traffic. It was a nice background noise because while they were fighting on the surface, there was a tone of good-naturedness to it. It was interesting to hear them as they were never like this in Q-Branch. 

"Oh, I love to eat here," K said as James pulled up to the valet parking for the restaurant. 

"Well, that's good." James was a little upset that he was not taking Q somewhere that he had never been. 

"Yes, I don't go here often at all. It's a treat. Mother brought me here when I got into college, and every single time, I earned a degree. I've not been back since she died."

James looked at Q and tried to read him to see if he was lying or not. The way that K moved over to settle in Q's lap told James that Q was not.

"We can go elsewhere."

"No, I'm all for eating here, James. I love eating here, and I need to move on."

"When did she pass?" James asked. 

Q just looked at James before he slipped out of the car. James left the vehicle running and slipped out as well, the valet was right there, recognizing James with a grin before he slipped inside. James circled around the back of the car of the valet could clear the car from the area. 

"Mister Holmes, welcome." Janine, the hostess said as James led Q into the opening area of the restaurant. It was a sky-high restaurant, but the hostess table was at the door was on the first floor, not the three floors of the building that it took up on the upper levels. The hotel that it was in was glad to have such a draw to its business. It had to make a killing on the rooms. 

"Good evening, Janine," James said. He watched as Janine eyed Q and there was horror there. 

James had decided that Q was from somewhere in the Holmes line, probably a child of Ottilie but possibly even the child that had been experimented on by Tiberius in the womb of Violet. It really didn't bother James on either side of it. He was a spy and when needed an assassin for England. He wasn't one to bat an eye at a circumstance that Q couldn't do a damned thing about. 

"How do you feel about scallops?" James asked.

"I do like seafood." 

"You do?" James waved Q toward the elevator as he never got escorted to his table. There was no sense in it. James reserved a table on the private floor. While there were other tables up there, they were far enough apart that it seemed like they were alone. 

"Yes, it's my preferred food actually. I will eat other meat, but I mainly live on vegetables and fruits with fish."

"I'll remember that."

"And tea," K said. 

James looked at the Pseudodragon as he had forgotten that he was on his shoulder. 

"If Q could, he would live off of tea," K said.

James laughed and laid a hand on Q's lower back as the doors of the elevator opened up. As soon as James got a look around, he saw why. Mycroft and Phillipa Holmes were eating at a table across the room along with another man and woman. 

"You don't have to engage them," James said as it was the only way that he was going to push the issue that James had an idea who Q was related to. 

"And I won't, but they won't let me ignore them for long."

"Well, I'll shoot them." James opened his suit coat and showed the gun that Q had given him a month before, and James had reported as lost. The magic on it made it impossible for metal detectors to find it. Q just raised an eyebrow at James.

"Well, at least Major Boothroyd was right in the fact that you steal items you think will be useful at a later time." Q gracefully took the seat that James ushered him to where his back was to his family. He waited for James to sit down before he started to unfold his napkin from the swan it was shaped into and set it in his lap. 

James could see the formal training in everything that he did as he prepared his side of the table the way that he wanted it. Q was much posher than James thought that he was. It was interesting to see. 

"How do you feel about letting me pick your food?" James asked.

"Is that part of the whole James Bond seduction technique that you pull out on those you need to seduce in the field?" Q asked. 

There was no tone in the words that put up James' hackles. It was a playful tone instead that made James smile. Q was pushing James like he always did. 

"Actually, it can be, but I never give everyone the entire James Bond experience, at least in the field."

"Ah, that's for the lovers you have here in London?"

James knew that there were whispers of the lovers that James had, his black notebook that had names as well as the times that she was usually not occupied with her husband. 

"No, it's only for the ones that I am serious about," James said.

Q drew back a little, looking James in the eyes for a few seconds before he blushed. 

A month ago, Jame would not have thought he would be serious about anyone after Vesper but Q it seemed had wormed his way into Jame's brain. Before now, he would have thought a roll in bed and James would be over it but he didn't think that was the case now. 

"Quintavius," Mycroft Holmes said as he stepped up to the table. He looked James with a keen eye and then turned back to Q. 

James was shocked that he had been paying too much attention to the blush on Q's face and neck to realize that they had others coming at them. Phillipa was on the other side, and the other two were behind Q. James didn't like it at all. James scooted back in his seat and held out a hand to Q. Q reached out and took it, allowing James to tug him closer. James settled Q into his lap and then glared at the foursome who were at their table. 

"What can we do for you, Mister and Miss Holmes?" James asked.

"We have nothing to say to you, cretin," Phillipa said. 

"Watch how you speak," Q hissed, and there was a rumble in it, and James knew right then what kind of experiment that Tiberius had done to him when he was still in his mother's womb. He might look like a Fae, but he was all Dragon. Scales rose on the back of Q's neck, and James wanted to nip at them. It wouldn't be a good thing though so James just settled for laying a hand on Q's thigh to where the whole of the crowd of Holmes' around them could see it. 

Mycroft did not like that. "Quintavius, we need to talk."

"We do not need to talk; you want to talk. You want to soothe wounds that you have no right to soothe. You have guilt, but I can't get rid of that I will not."

K hissed and flapped his wings at Mycroft. The man just glared at the Pseudodragon.

"Even attempt to a single thing to him, and I'll gut you right here," James said.

"You've taken up with her barely trained killers?" Phillipa said.

"You have no right to tell me who can and cannot stick their prick inside of me, Phillipa," Q said. 

"Quintavius," Phillipa said.

"You didn't even tell us that our aunt was dead. We had to find out from Mycroft."

James realized then that it was two children of another of the kids from the Homes family. 

"She didn't care at all about the family," Q said. He sat up a little more straight in James' lap. "She turned her back on all of you when you all turned eighteen and none of you sought me out. Tiberius was long gone and Siger while alive had little that he could do to any of you if you had sought me out." 

James leaned in and nuzzled at Q's neck, making shushing noises at him. There was no way that James or Q would be thrown out, but he didn't want Q so upset that they had to leave because he wanted to. 

"I will tell you all one more time before I will go the legal route for this. None of you wants the Holmes name run through the papers again, do you? The world finding out that Siger would rather have me marked off as dead than to have to raise me."

"You would destroy your family name?" one of the other two asked.

"I don't even carry the family name, and Quintavius Holmes is dead according to paperwork, died stillborn inside his mother's womb. The picture in the file is very nice. Nearly made me cry. Even the name that Mother gave me is considered to be dead, though that was more because of the job that I took than anything else. I go by Q and Q alone. That I haven't gutted you for calling me that stupid name shows the restraint that I have."

"What would she think of you sleeping with the likes of him?" Phillipa asked.

James wanted to say something, but Q's hand on his on Q's thigh stopped him. 

"I don't think you realize exactly what kind of Dragon he is or what she thought of him."

"Quintavius," Mycroft started.

"Mister Holmes, you were told the last time that if you bothered Mister Mansfield while he was eating that you would not be welcome again if you did it," the owner of the restaurant said as he walked up to them. 

"I am allowed to talk to my brother if I want to."

"No, you are not. Not when he doesn't want you to. Say one more word, and I make this public," Q said. 

"Now see-" Mycroft cut off with a scream as a James slammed a dagger through his hand where it was braced on the table as he leaned in to try and intimidate Q. James jerked it out, and blood started to weep from the wound. Q wasn't even shocked at all about it. The other three Holmes looked at James like he was a barbarian, but they didn't understand just what kind of Dragon James was, just like Q had said. 

"Mister Holmes and his family were leaving," the owner said. 

Seven officers stepped up and waited for the four Holmes to leave. James waited until the four of them were escorted out. James wrapped an arm around Q's waist and kept him in his lap. 

"Well, that's my family." Q's body language was soft. He wasn't upset 

"No, that's blood that has no bearing on you. Your mother was your family, and you'll find more family, the kind that matters."

"Mister Mansfield, are you okay?" the owner asked as he came back to the table. "Do you need a new table?"

"No, this one is fine," Q said. He moved the bucket with a bottle of wine in it to cover that area where Mycroft's blood was. "See gone."

"I have a set of scallops on the way to the table. Wine, appetizers, and desserts are on me. I didn't know that you were Mister Bond's plus one. I've made a note, but there are others of your family that do come here."

"Six months for Mycroft. After that banning, if he doesn't leave me alone." 

"Yes, Sir." The owner gave Q a bow and then disappeared. The scallops were dropped off seconds later. They were in a bed of what looked like garlic and bacon. 

James reached out and snagged the spoon to dish out a scallop to give to Q, but he stopped as the name came to him. Mansfield. If James hadn't been around long enough to see children of people he had relationships with and lust after them, he would have cared about who it seemed had at least been the person to raise Q. 

"The second-born Holmes had no record." James used his fork to spear a scallop for himself and eat it. It tasted wonderful, but it wasn't his kind of food. He would let Q eat the rest of them and the way that he was noshing on them, it wasn't going to be an issue. 

"No, mother didn't want that out there. She married her husband and never looked back at the name."

"Tell me about her." James got another scallop moved over for Q to eat. He watched as Q speared it and then dipped it into the sauce before eating it.

"She was a hard-ass to everyone but me. She pushed me hard, but when I needed a break, she allowed it. I don't know how I would be if I had been raised at home." Q was a limp noodle in his lap like he didn't want to leave it at all. James was more than okay with that. 

"Why did she take you in?" M had never struck James as the motherly type. Still, she was fond of her orphans, and James wondered if that her fondness for them started with the child she had taken in to stop her family from probably killing him. 

"I was born, and it was known then what Tiberius had done to me in the womb. Siger wanted to kill me, but Mother took me from him. I never lived a single night under the roof of Holmes Manor. She used her job to fight for me before I left the hospital."

"You can say it, Q. Mansfield is not a very prominent name in the Security services. You have people looking at you like they used to look at M before. I thought it was fear when we got here. It wasn't. It was respect and pity." James understood the look a lot more now. He laughed as he thought about how he was lusting after M's in all but actually pushing him out of her body son. He figured that she was rolling in her grave but cursing him as she always did. It wasn't something that would have shocked her if she had been alive. James missed her a great deal. He had never harboured feelings for her, even maternal ones. 

"There were a lot of fights in here. Mother kept all of the files out of MI6 about us. I am sure that it's on a paper file somewhere in Mallory's office. I talked to him after the turnover, and I made sure he understood that I am not a threat to him. I'll take care of my branch, and he can take care of everything else."

"Except for your Double-Ohs."

"Yes, they are mine. They were Mother's, and now they are mine." 

"You do seem like the type to hoard what you think is yours. Still doesn't explain why you are here, in my lap."

"I like dangerous things. Mother knew that from a young age. It's why she had me mentoring with Boothroyd. I grew up under his wing. None of the Double-Ohs spent much time there, so none of them saw me. If they did come in, I went to his office. Mother wasn't sure if I was made worse by that or I was already there when I saw one of the Double-Ohs get into a fight with another. They were glorious when they were fighting with wings and claws."

"All scales out, huh?"

"Yes. There was so much damage. I loved it, though."

"So you only look Fae?" James asked.

"Yes." Q looked around and then frowned when the waiter came over to them. He looked like a sulking child and James wanted to pull him around and nip at that lip that was sticking out.

"Any changes to the menu that you emailed to us?" the waiter asked.

"No."

"Sneaky agent," Q said as he turned his head to look at James. The waiter walked off with a simple nod. "You don't want me to know what is coming?"

"No. I like surprising you. Though after this surprise, I think I'm due."

"I was going to tell you tonight. I figure that a few of Mother's Double-Ohs might have an issue with who raised me, but I figure that I'll get them under my hand soon. Mallory has been talking to me about revealing exactly who I am, Holmes and all. He didn't like that part of the whole file. He's rather pissed at my family though he never could stand Mycroft anyway. He finds this all great. I laid into Mycroft at that meeting, and no one understood anything except for the fact that I hate him."

"I'd love to sit in on the next one. M used to bring one of us to meetings to help menace assholes who didn't think that women could do a good job. I loved it. Especially the time that I used a knife to cut my nails while in the meeting. It was interesting as hell to watch most of those men. Many of them have never served a single moment in the military at all. They don't understand what it takes to keep anything safe."

Dinner passed quickly for James who enjoyed having Q in his lap for all of it. The lobster and shrimp meal was something that Q seemed to enjoy a great deal. He ate the veg that James chose with no issue and cleaned his plate. James had steak with veg as well, and they drank an entire bottle of wine. 

"Can I drop you at home?" James asked.

"You may, and you may pick me up in the morning in as well. Breakfast before work sounds wonderful." 

"Sure." James smiled at Q before he helped him stand up. He left more than enough cash for food and the tip as well as a little extra for the table. 

* * *

James had been given the address as a place that he needed to be at for the testing of something. The note had been taped to his locker after his work out with all of the other Double-Ohs that were on home soil for the next few weeks. All of the Double-Ohs had the same note taped to their lockers. So they had all piled into a Land Rover and headed into the countryside of London. James had found it strange that they were all there. 

The large stone manor house looked vastly different yet close to Skyfall, and James kind of hated it. He could feel the magic that was everywhere around it. This area was majorly protected. 

A giant green-scaled Dragon was sitting on the top of the house, looking at James like the Dragon was a cat staring at an invader. Every single Double-Oh stopped and stared. 

"GET YOUR ARSES MOVING!" K yelled out as he swooped down to land on James' shoulder. 

"Where is the Quartermaster at?" Alec asked as he looked around. 

"You'll find him at the end of your trials."

"Trials?" James asked as he looked at K. The Pseudodragon looked like he was excited. 

"There are nine starting points, and you only have to get to the end of your point. I'm sure you can read enough to figure who which point belongs to who. Each one of you might die during this, so please don't. The mess will be horrible." K flew off and dropped on top of one of the starting points. James saw that each sign had a number on it. He laughed at the smart-arsed Pseudodragon. 

James felt the eyes of the green Dragon on him, and he wasn't sure exactly who that was. There were no green dragons inside of MI6 that James knew of though there were a few lesser Dragons that he had no care to find out what colour they were. James stared at the Dragon as he moved toward where the starting point was. Each area had a single table with two things on it. A knife and a gun. James slipped the gun into his shoulder holster, setting his other gun down. The blade was in a sheath already, so James just clipped that to his belt. It was a bizarre feeling, there was heavy magic on the gun and the knife, and it was making James' skin tingle. He looked at the others to see that they were swapping out weapons as needed with the things they were being provided. 

Crouching down to the ground, James dug his fingers into the dirt and felt the magic of Q brush against his skin. This was his land, well-protected it seemed. James remembered that M had a property near London that was used as a retreat for the few days of rest that she got during the year. This had to be it. It was strange to feel such power coming from Q. Especially since it didn't feel all that Fae-like.

"You've been keeping a secret," 009 said from his spot a few down from James.

Even though 009 hadn't said James' name, he knew that it was him that he was talking about. 

"How so?" James asked. 

"This magic is off the scales, and the only technomages that have come into this world with the rise of technology are Dragons. How in the fucking hell did Q fake that?"

"He's a Dragon that feels like a Fae," James said. He looked at 009 to see that he wasn't pissed. Double-Ohs usually felt everything but anger when someone pulled something over their eyes. "Think about how that happens."

"I heard about the Holmes family and how the former patriarch messed with his DNA and his mates, and each of their children was a different race," 002 called out from the far end. "I was sent to that gene-splicing conference, and I heard all about it. There are rumours that the eldest boy, Siger, had a child who died because his father played with his genes, and no one knew it." 

"Quintavius Holmes," James said.

"Yeah, that was it. The child died, but the rumours didn't stop at that. They think that he was secretly fostered somewhere and Siger is going to use him as a weapon to take over the world."

"You believe that?"

"No. That the child is alive? Yes. That he's going to take over the world for Siger Holmes? No. He might for you, though." 002 was grinning as she said the words. 

The other Double-Ohs laughed, but it wasn't a jovial one, it was half maniacal.

"He'd take over the world for any of his Double-Ohs. His mother trained him well in protecting that which he thinks is his," K said. 

A breeze started up, and it wasn't until there was the slap of wings in the air that James realized it wasn't a breeze. He turned to look at the green Dragon that was taking flight. It shot off toward the direction the paths were that the Double-Ohs were going to take. It was gone before James could blink.

"So, you are serious?" Alec asked, looking at K.

"That Q used to be a Holmes before he was adopted by the woman who raised him? Yes. That he would take over the world to protect any of you? Yes."

"Reminds me of M a little," 003 said. 

James snorted. He looked at K, who gave a nod.

"Olivia Mansfield was born Olivia Holmes, the second child to Tiberius. She took in her nephew and raised him as best she could, given how much the world as a whole would hate him for what he represented."

"And Q has to go into meetings with that asshat Mycroft?" 005 asked.

"Not alone, not anymore," 008 answered. 

"There is an expose coming out about it all. Mycroft crossed the line one too many times when it came to Q, and now Q is going to air the entire family's dirty laundry." James had read all of it. Nothing would be traced back to him, given that Q had been declared dead before he had joined MI6. A lot had happened over the last three weeks since that first date between Q and James. Mallory had been more than willing to reveal horrible information about the Holmes family and their dealings. They were going to say it was coming out of the notes left by M, the former one. It was an excellent way to do it. There were few images of the child that M had adopted in the world. Those that were there were all digital at this point, or Q had gotten rid of them in person before becoming the Quartermaster.

"What can you tell us about what we are going to face?" James asked K, trying to get attention off of Q and his life. James knew that K would have stopped it if it hit things that Q didn't want out, but it was wrong feeling to discuss Q without him being there. 

"I can tell you nothing. I've been sworn to secrecy, but I can say this. If you are not afraid now. You will be. You will be." K cackled as he took off and flew toward where the green Dragon had gone.

"He sounds nothing like Yoda," 008 said. 

The woods that they were heading into looked tame, but if this was some kind of test, it was going to be anything but dull. 

James was proven right when it took eighteen hours to get to the end of the woods to find Mallory, Tanner, and Q standing there. Q's eyes were green, a green that James had seen the exact shade of on the Dragon that had been watching them. James had felt its eyes watching him throughout the entire trek through the woods. He felt its satisfaction when whatever James was facing was just a little too hard for him not to get injured.

"Quartermaster," Alec said as he dropped to sit on his arse in front of the trio. He looked worn out.

James looked at the rest. They were all bloody and worn out looking. The smell of cooking food had James' stomach growling. He looked around to find the food but couldn't see it. Someone was hiding it. Probably because if the Double-Ohs could see it, they would be eating it. Roasting meat was the overpowering smell, and James was pretty sure he could find it just from that, even with the smell of skunk in his nose from the last trap that he had nearly released on himself. The smell had gotten around him, but he had been able to block it from him the rest of the way, the air in the area though smelled like it.

"Stay," Q said with a wicked grin on his face. 

"I'm not a dog," James said. 

"You sure pant like one." 

James took three steps toward Q and felt a barrier in front of him. He reached out with a clawed hand and started to get his claws through the barrier. Q huffed at him, magic flowing out. James felt it wrap around him, and he felt the hand ghost over his cock. He really wanted to just grab Q and pull him into the woods. The fucker was playing with him in a way that was impossible for him to do anything about it. He growled at Q. 

"Where did your friend go?" Alec asked as he stepped forward, smirking when the barrier didn't stop him. The rest of the Double-Ohs followed. When the last one stepped over, the barrier dropped, and James straighten his suit. He had expended a lot of magic to clean it up when he knew he was at the end. He watched Q as the other Double-Ohs looked around as he stepped to stand in front of Q. 

"What friend?" Q asked. 

"The green Dragon."

"Who said he went anywhere?" Tanner asked. 

James laughed and closed the distance between him and Q. He kissed Q, hearing the other Double-Ohs make a noise. 

"Is this your natural eye colour?" James asked. Q's eyes were shining like Dragon scales did. 

"Yes. When I am not blocking it with spells, I do have shining eyes. Mother remarked that my eyes were beautiful, just like my scales." Scales slipped down Q's neck. It was a day that most Dragons looked when they were out and about with other magical creatures. All versions of magical creatures looked human, and their other form was taught to be hidden to blend with humans. It wasn't that humans hated them, but it was better if they blended in. There was a difference between walking around as a human and walking around as a sixty-foot Dragon or a Fae with their wings. Dwarves with their beards and love of rocks. James loved his Dragon form, even if he couldn't get into it as much as he wanted. London was no place for a Dragon like him to go balls out as it were. 

"Mother hated her form because she was not able to be a Dragon, which was a failing on all of the experiments that Tiberius did. I was the perfect one, by the way. I feel and look Fae, but my Dragon form is not gone from my ability to shift into. As you all saw."

"Dear God in Heaven," 005 said. She looked like she might actually shit her pants when James looked at her. 

"Yes, 005?" Q asked, turning to look at her. 

"That was you?"

"Yes, 005, that green Dragon was me. The manor house has been fortified to hold my weight, so it will hold you as well. This training area is going to be maintained by the locals, inside of the woods, and outside of it as well. The lands are yours to play around on. Still, to maintain your Double-Oh status from here on out, you have to pass one of the nine training runs once every quarter, skipped only if you are injured at the end. When you are healed, though, you will go on it before being allowed in the field. This time you were given specific ones that were meant to push your weaknesses to the front. After this, you will have to choose a different one. There is nothing the same on any of the tracks. There are nine wings in the house, and the upper-middle is mine. The rest of you can find the one you like the best between the other eight. I have staff that will feed you when you are here. Let this place be your home away from home." 

Q clapped his hands together, and a buffet appeared behind him. 

"Eat and drink. The wine is Fae, so no one is going to get drunk. You all have the weekend to recover magically before you are sent out again." Mallory's words carried around the area, and he raised a glass of wine that had not been visible in his hand before now. 

"So, what is this place really?" James asked as he looked around. 

"It's a safe home for me. It's where I lived with Father while Mother worked. There is a mirror in the front entry hall that is connected with MI6. The Double-Ohs can move between locations easily. It's too big, though, for me alone without Father and Mother, so I have worked on making it a refuge for the Double-Ohs. There is enough room to fly and be Dragons while at the same time giving privacy that you all want. I have my flat in London, and it's connected to here as well. No one is getting across my wards on this manor house unless they destroy it all."

"I'm not all that hungry," James said.

"No, I know you aren't. You ate a deer in the forest two hours ago."

"You know that?" James asked.

"I know all that happens inside of my land. No matter what it is. The food is going to be warm for hours yet. Fae magic. My land is full of Fae, and they are not be threatened." Q's tone got louder at the end. 

"Yes, Q," all of the rest of the Double-Ohs said. 

"Why don't I show you our room."

"Our room?" James asked. He had figured that was what Q meant when he said that his wing was on the top in the middle. Given there were only nine wings, someone was doubling up. 

"And don't worry 006. Your room is fireproof, even to your own fire." 

Alec laughed, hard and long, the rest of the Double-Ohs and even Mallory and Tanner joined in.

"M, Tanner, I'm sure you can see yourself back to London?" Q asked.

"Yes, Quartermaster," Tanner said. 

"Good. I'll be otherwise occupied. Anyone who disrupts that will find themselves stuck on a pike." 

James felt Q's magic envelop him. It felt ticklish on his skin. They landed in a room that was warm and felt very inviting to James. James saw the fireplace that dominated one wall. It was a chamber that would not have been out of place two hundred years ago, but it felt like Q, even with the computer station that was near the bed. James could see the door that led to the closet as well as the one towards the bathroom. 

"Cozy."

"It has been my set of rooms since I was a child. Mother never let me want for anything that I could make a case good enough to get. Including the best set of rooms on this floor. Mother and Father used the lower floor rooms. I loved my rooms." Q walked toward the wall that was on the outside of the back of the manor house. He threw open two doors to show James the balcony that was out there. It was huge and stretched the whole of the room. It was sturdy and wasn't going to get damaged, even if one of them landed there before shifting. 

"I can see why you like the rooms."

"The bathroom has updated magical plumbing. We can both swim in the bath if we want or take a stand-up shower." 

"Are you saying that I need a shower?" James asked. He knew that he had to be a little ripe. Especially for being alone in a room with Q. The suit might be clean, but it wasn't like the other Double-Ohs all smelled like roses at the moment. Magic could clean to a degree, but it wasn't the greatest. It didn't do well on smells unless James removed a layer of skin, and then he would be too sensitive to be in clothes, much less around anyone else. 

Q gave James a glare from the balcony before he laid down on a large lounge chair that looked like it was carved into the stone. James followed behind him. He braced his hands on the top edge as he leaned over to kiss Q. The stone was warm, more than just sun-warmed. It had to feel good on Q's body. He was too thin, and his inner fire from being a dragon wasn't the greatest at keeping his body warm when it was cool. James had figured that out the one night that he had fallen asleep with Q on Q's couch. It was as close to sex as they had got. James hoped that this a change of that, retreating to a place that Q felt safe in. 

"I'll be back as quickly as I can."

"I'll be here." Q's eyes were closed, and he was soaking up what sun there was in the sky. 

James familiarized himself with the bathroom and found that the tub that Q was talking about was a lie. It wasn't a tub, it was a pond. A small one but still one. James was sure that they would both fit in it with all of the Double-Ohs and not have to touch. It wasn't long before James was done washing up. He fastened a towel around his lower body before he exited the bathroom to find that Q was indeed where James had left him. He, however, had done something other than just lying there. He was naked. James growled as if anyone was in the sky, they would see him. 

Striding over to him, James growled again, and all Q did was barely open an eye to look at him. 

"Did you know that when I was eight, I refused to put on clothes for six months. My scales were having issues growing in, and I itched all of the time." Q huffed, and the scales that he was talking about flowed down his neck, visible. They kept on going, down his shoulders to meet just below his armpits and flowed downward. Every single Dragon had a different set of scales. There was no rhyme or reason to how they presented on the body. James' were down his back and wrapped to go down his outer hips and legs. 

James climbed onto the stone to find that there was some form of magical cushioning going on. He straddled Q's legs and let the towel hang there, spreading open some. 

"And?" James asked. He eyed Q's body, seeing the scales as they moved as Q's breathed. James had never found the scales that Dragons had that sexy, but the green on Q's body was beautiful. James reached out and touched the ones that made up the side stripes on Q's neck. He dragged his finger down the side, and he watched Q's nostrils flare, and his eyes deepen in colour. 

"This balcony as spells built into it so that no one can see through it. I know where it is to land. I'll have to train you."

"So, this isn't visible at all?"

"Nope. It looks like a solid wall all the way down to the next floor. Mother made sure I was protected. Thankfully it was late spring, summer, and early fall, so I wasn't too cold. I had a few that grew in wrong and had to be ripped out. They grew in right the next time, but it was painful that first time."

"Sexy," James said. He pulled the towel from his body and let it drop down to the floor. It would probably be needed again, so he didn't want it getting far at all. 

"What? I still have scales that will do that if they fall out. Mother thought it was to do with my experimentation. I was never supposed to get these at all. At least according to what Mother seized of the work that Tiberius had kept about it all. I read it over when I was old enough to understand all of it." 

"M let you do that?" James asked. This wasn't sexy discussion at all, but it was Q. James would do anything for Q. It was horrible and wrong, but that was the way it was. Q was Q, and there was a lot of fucked up in his life that he had seemed to accept. 

"She didn't deny me anything, especially since she didn't trust a lot of people with that knowledge, and she figured that I needed to know what to expect about myself. I do not have a womb, which was something that she feared. Tiberius was one step away from being a mad-man. He had a thrall on his kids until they were old enough to realize what he was doing. How wrong it all way. Except for Mother. She escaped from his thrall as soon as she could, and he couldn't do a damned thing about it." 

Q reared up and kissed James, grabbing the back of his head and pulling him down. James felt his cock start to harden as Q grasped it in his hand. James felt that Q was always going to be surprising him, it seemed.

"Tricky little shit," James said when his lips broke free of Q's as Q settled back down into the chair. 

"You told me to be sure, James and I am." 

James groaned as he remembered the talk the night that they had gone on their first day. Q didn't trust easily, and given his life, even discounting his life in the spy games, James could understand if Q had trusted no one ever. It was a hard life to know that your family hated you just for being alive. Virgins were not a notch in James' post that he wanted. He had never cared about that, even in school. He had gone for the old ones, even if they were older than he should be touching. He had popped the cherry of one girl, and she had become too attached too quickly, and James had backed off of that immediately. Q, though, was very different. 

Q was way more than just different when it came to that. James would do anything for him, and he wasn't sure that it was a good thing when it came to James' continued life as a Double-Oh. Q was going to be at his job for a long time. The only time that a Double-Oh left the service was when they either got bored or died. There was not a lot that got bored. 

Even though it had only been a short time, James found himself wanting to stay around so that he didn't miss time with Q. There would be time enough to do a lot of things in his life if he lived to do them. He hoped that was a while down the road. Yet, he thought that with Q by his side, it might not be the worst thing in the world. Q would keep him entertained. 

"What do you want?" James asked.

"Whatever you do and to feel good." Q tried to pull James down to him again, but James held back. He let Q's other hand settle on his hip, though, and draw him a little closer. Their cocks touched, and Q groaned.

"You don't care what I do?"

"No. We have a week. You came back and need some downtime. Psych is worried about you tipping over into overworked. I thought a weekend of teaching me some fun things in the bedroom would be a good way to get your head on the way that Psych wants. So what do you want to show me first?" Q asked.

"Oh, the things I want to show you." James sat back and pulled Q up to kiss him. Q's hands started to touch, hesitant at first, but then with more pressure as he found that James didn't mind him touching his scales or skin. He wasn't near as hesitant as most virgins seemed to be. 

"No," Q said when James pulled entirely out of his grip. 

"I told you that your first time was not going to be in a car or against your door, Q. What makes you think I'm going to do it here? We have all weekend. We can have fun wherever you want but indulge me for this." James coaxed Q into his arms with his legs wrapped around him. James knew that he was more substantial than he looked with muscles cording on his body. All Dragons had muscles that felt like they weighed more than they looked. Q, no matter his size, could wreck James easily with his strength. The only thing that looking like a Fae did for him was to make people really underestimate him. 

James dropped Q down into the bed and looked down at him. He already looked like he was debauched with his lips swollen from kissing, and his eyes blown from arousal. James wanted to do more than just thoroughly wreck him, he wanted to make Q scream with pleasure. James wanted to see him writhe as James took him. He wanted to make sure that Q never wanted another again. There had been no one in James' life that he had wanted like this. Even the love that he had developed for Vesper had been nothing compared to this. This was consuming, and all that James felt he needed to live his life. 

Q held out his hand toward James as he scooted up the bed to get his gangling legs all on there, his head resting on the pillow. The fire flared in the room as James reached out with a quick spell to make it burn even hotter, the room was already warm, but James wanted to see Q in a sheen of sweat. James gladly let Q pull him onto the bed and into his arms. The way that Q gasped when his cock brushed James' and the moan that he let out when James repeated it with more pressure was even better. 

James would take the rest of his long years to figure out precisely what kinds of pleasure sounds he could get from Q, and he would enjoy it. 

# The End

**Author's Note:**

> I write fanfiction for fun. It's a hobby and a stress relief. I refuse to stress over my writing. What you see is what you get. Errors, plot holes, and all. Thank you for reading my story! 
> 
> I can be found on MeWe [here](https://mewe.com/i/beccaqueen1), join me there and we can discuss my fics and whatnot.


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